Adventures Of Fatherhood

Beckett was the first to wake up in the house the other day. Instead of storming into our room and announcing it, he decided last Sunday morning to begin his day without us.

Since he’s quite the stomper, we know immediately when he’s awake, no matter what time it is.

However, usually he either heads straight for the bathroom or into our room to announce his current whereabouts (as if we didn’t know).

On this particular day, food was apparently on his mind, as he headed straight for the kitchen and made himself a bowl of cereal.

When I called for him from upstairs, he ran over in mid-chew to the stairs, holding his bowl and spoon with an incredulous look on his face.

When I asked him what he was doing, in a matter of fact sort of way, he said, “I was hungry so I came downstairs to get some Fruit Loops, okay? … I’m going to go look for the iPad now.”

“Wow” was my only response. I was extremely proud of him at that moment.———————————-

It’s rare that Pam or I will take both kids to the grocery store at the same time, but there are times when it just has to happen.

When I know a double-team trip to the store with both kids is coming, I plan ahead as much as possible.

However, the key — at least for me — is scoring a kid-friendly shopping cart.

All grocery stores have these, but they come in all shapes and sizes. At my local store, there are two available to choose from — a fire truck and a police car.

Both popular options, it seems my kids lean toward the red fire truck cart, but will accept the blue police car one if it’s the only one available.

The worst case scenario would be that neither are available, and that’s exactly the predicament I was in a few weeks ago.

What did I do? I waited, based off previous experience. Fortunately, a few minutes later, a mother shopping with her three kids came out of the store. God bless her.

I later found it would not have really mattered if I had the kid cart or not. The fact is taking two kids under the age of 4 to the grocery store is going to come with trials and tribulations, and there’s much that can be done about that.

Although I know better, I always try and put both kids in the car part of the shopping cart, but invariably some sort of disagreement unfolds over hair pulling, elbowing or leg touching. I remember clearly Beckett at one point saying, “Carson is breathing on me.”

Due to the bickering, Carson usually ends up in the actual shopping cart contraption facing me. I know from past experience that means we must hug the middle of all aisles as he’s particularly fond of swatting at items and has been known to wreck an aisle end cap before.

Adding to the tense experience of late is Beckett’s new desire to help with the shopping duties. No matter if it’s the fire truck or the police car, Beckett now must get out and help at every stop throughout the store. It’s sweet, but not without frustrations.

He wants to grab every item off all the displays and put it in the shopping cart. Check that, it’s more like hurl it into the shopping cart.

Unquestionably, the toughest part of the shopping experience is the check-out process. If I’m lucky, there is no wait, but if there is, ants get in the kids’ pants.

That’s usually when, if I have not already, I begin opening bags of food to keep them content. That works perfectly with Carson.

With Beckett, for some reason, food is no longer doing the trick. A bottle of water now keeps him settled usually long enough for us to get out in the parking lot.

That’s when the orders to run and “push us like a bobsled” usually start to flow from Beckett.

Both kids are currently in between sizes, and it’s becoming challenging for their parents.

Depending on what item of clothing it is, Carson is now wearing “3T” and Beckett is now a “4T”. Unfortunately, it’s not always that simple.

In Carson’s case, he’s definitely a “3T” as far as the waist goes for pants but it’s not that simple as far as length. It appears he’s a chunky little one with short legs at this point in his life.

As a result, what has to happen is his waist is all good with the “3T” but the pants have to be rolled up considerably. It’s quite the fashion statement for the little guy.

But it’s the only option, as the alternative would be not being able to button his pants in “2T” but having perfect length.

On the other hand, Beckett is in the midst of a major growing spurt and seems to be outgrowing “3T” clothes in all facets. The shirts are too short in the arms and stomach and the pants are too tight and short.

He’s clearly on to “4Ts” and is excited by this. He always says, “I’m growing because I’m about to turn 4 years old and I’m a big kid.”

The other night we were putting on his new “4T” pajamas his mom got him when he asked me what size comes next after he outgrows “4T”.

I had to confess I had no idea. He then asked me size pants I wore. I told him “small,” and he laughed and laughed, saying, “no, no, no … you’re a big man daddy” while trying to pull off my pants to see, in his words, “what T you are.”

About The Author: Steven Green

The writer has been with The Dispatch in various capacities since 1995, including serving as editor and publisher since 2004. His previous titles were managing editor, staff writer, sports editor, sales account manager and copy editor. Growing up in Salisbury before moving to Berlin, Green graduated from Worcester Preparatory School in 1993 and graduated from Loyola University Baltimore in 1997 with degrees in Communications (journalism concentration) and Political Science.

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